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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26967775">Day 12 - Broken Bones</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfictiongreenirises/pseuds/fanfictiongreenirises'>fanfictiongreenirises</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent, Car Accidents, Dick Grayson is Robin, Don't copy to another site, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, just not w the character inside it lol</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:28:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,147</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26967775</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfictiongreenirises/pseuds/fanfictiongreenirises</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Accidents that result in injuries have a way of putting a stopper on arguments.</p><p> </p><p><strong>No 12. I THINK I’VE BROKEN SOMETHING</strong><br/>Broken Down | <strike>Broken Bones</strike> | Broken Trust</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dick Grayson &amp; Bruce Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947217</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>216</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Day 12 - Broken Bones</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This turned out to be Much softer than anticipated lol</p><p>No warnings</p><p>Disclaimer: there's way too much pollen flying around today to consider owning dc</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">THIS FANFICTION IS HOSTED ON <b>ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN</b>, WHERE YOU CAN READ IT FOR <b>FREE</b>. IF YOU’RE READING THIS ON A DIFFERENT WEBSITE, IT WAS POSTED THERE <b>WITHOUT</b> THE AUTHOR’S CONSENT.</p><p class="p1"> </p><p>Dick was on a <em>roll</em> with his rant, and it was giving Bruce a headache. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to keep his own temper under control, mentally rehearsing his own words.</p><p>“I’ve been away without you before, for <em>weeks</em>, even,” Dick was ranting, eyes flashing as they walked closer to the side of the road to wait for a taxi. “You were the one who said you were proud of the work that the team is doing. It’s like the longer we go, the less you trust me. If I were Clark—”</p><p>That was when Bruce’s control snapped. “Clark,” he said, head turning to Dick with his back to the road, “is practically <em>invulnerable.</em> He’s also the same age as me.”</p><p>“So what, this all boils down to <em>age?”</em> Dick responded incredulously. “Don’t <em>lie </em>to me, Bruce. Say whatever bullshit reason you’ve come up with, but at least have it be <em>honest</em>.”</p><p>“Fine,” Bruce said, eyes narrowing. “The truth is, I never should’ve—”</p><p>But Dick’s eyes had switched to somewhere behind him, and he shoved Bruce out of the way, leaping forward and onto the road with at breakneck speed. Bruce whirled around, and the scene before him played out before he could even blink.</p><p>Dick shoved the little kid – who was standing in the centre of the road – out of the way of the speeding car, and Bruce watched as the child was thrown onto the pavement on the other side of the street. Dick tried getting out of the way, but there was no time.</p><p>The car slammed into him. He’d already been bent forward, in order to be able to push the kid, so the car hit him directly in the side, sending him flying forward and hitting the road ungracefully. Dick rolled forward just as the car braked harshly.</p><p>Now <em>Bruce</em> was the one who was running, racing forward as fast as he could go because he could see all too clearly the numbers and crime scene images flashing through in his mind’s eye. He skidded to the ground beside Dick’s head, fingers going immediately to his pulse even before he registered whether Dick was moving. All he could think of were the last words he’d been saying to Dick, the argument they’d been having.</p><p>“…kid came outta nowhere,” the driver was saying. He’d gotten out of his car just as Bruce had gotten to Dick.</p><p>“Call an ambulance,” Bruce shouted at him.</p><p>If he wasn’t so intent on assessing the damage, he might’ve noted other details about the man, about the car and its numberplate, about the group surrounding them as the onlookers peered down at them, a mother standing at the side clutching her child. But the only thing currently going through his mind was that Dick was only starting to stir.</p><p>“Dick, hey, wake up, chum,” he said softly, careful not to touch the side of Dick that’d been hit by the vehicle. Or the other side, that was looking very scraped and bruised. “That’s it, sweetheart, open your eyes.”</p><p>Dick blinked slightly, squinting up at Bruce. “What…” he began, but immediately let out a gasped breath as he jostled some body part.</p><p>“Don’t move,” Bruce told him. “The ambulance is on its way.”</p><p>“Ambulance?” Dick frowned. “I don’t…”</p><p>“Don’t argue right now, not over this,” Bruce said, but his voice held none of the iron that it previously had. “You need to be checked over. You were hit pretty hard – you were even unconscious for a little bit there.”</p><p>Bruce refrained from the urge to glower murderously at the man who was still standing there. From the way he was swaying where he stood, he was definitely under the influence of something. Bruce’s jaw clenched at the knowledge that Dick had almost been killed because of this absolute idiot.</p><p>“Can you move your toes?” Bruce asked. Something in him loosened when Dick nodded. “Fingers?”</p><p>Bruce didn’t look down at Dick’s fingers; instead, he observed the slight wince, and then the flinch.</p><p>“Left arm,” Dick said in an undertone, with a pained grimace. “Doesn’t seem too bad, though.”</p><p>“The paramedics will be judge of that.”</p><p>The sirens were getting closer, and the crowd of people standing there gawking at them dispersed now that paramedics were here. They were quick to find who was in need of assistance. One of them jogged up to Bruce and Dick, giving them a quick, reassuring smile as she knelt down beside them.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Bruce waited impatiently in the waiting room. Dick’s injuries weren’t bad enough that he was immediately being rushed inside – his arm had been placed in a sling, and they were now waiting for the patient currently inside to finish up.</p><p>Bruce glanced to his side again, noting the pain lines marking Dick’s face.</p><p>“Hungry?” It was the only question he could think of that wasn’t about how Dick was feeling, because he’d seen how Dick reacted to that the fourth time he’d asked. “Or thirsty?”</p><p>Dick shook his head. “Just wanna go home, really,” he said, stifling a yawn. “Do we <em>have</em> to be here?” They both knew what he meant by that – they’d dealt with injuries like this, and much worse, by themselves.</p><p>Bruce grimaced. “I’m afraid we do,” he said. Because they both<em> also</em> knew that there’d be many more questions if Dick were not treated at the hospital he’d been rushed to by the ambulance.</p><p>“Think you jumped the gun a little with making them call 911,” Dick said, huffing a laugh.</p><p>Bruce frowned. “You were knocked unconscious after you were <em>hit by a car</em>. I reacted just like any sane person would.”</p><p>Dick sighed. “Sure, B,” he said.</p><p>Bruce was about to say something, perhaps an apology of some sort about what they’d been discussing, or maybe just asking Dick whether he wanted an ice cream – that’d always fixed things before, right? – but at that moment, the nurse poked her head out the door and called for them to come in.</p><p>“I got this, B,” Dick said, wobbling slightly as he stood. “You don’t need to come with me.”</p><p>That… oddly enough, that hurt. “Do you not want me in there?” Bruce asked.</p><p>“I’m not a kid anymore. I’ll be fine.” With that, Dick sauntered inside.</p><p>Bruce slumped back against the chair, resisting the urge to chew on his nails as he waited once again. Beside him, an elderly woman chuckled slightly, the laughter coming out more as a few huffs of breath than anything else.</p><p>“Teenagers,” she said with a shake of her head. “The things they do to prove they’ve grown up.”</p><p>At Bruce’s lack of response, she smiled a little wider. “Don’t worry, dear. Give him a few years, and he’ll realise just how much he misses having someone else do his laundry for him.”</p><p>Bruce forced a smile at that, though privately he thought that it would take a lot more than laundry to fix whatever was creating this fissure between them.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Dick emerged out of the room with a bright purple cast on his arm, already signed by someone. Bruce jumped up and walked over in an instant, hoping to catch the nurse who’d treated him.</p><p>Dick saw his searching look and snorted. “She can’t tell you anything,” he reminded Bruce. “Doctor patient confidentiality, remember?”</p><p>Bruce frowned. “You’re sixteen,” he said. “I can still access your medical records—”</p><p>“Nope,” Dick told him, popping the ‘P’. “You stopped being able to when I <em>turned</em> sixteen. Legally, that is.”</p><p>Bruce sighed. “C’mon, let’s get you home.”</p><p>The bravado seemed to drain out of Dick the closer they got to the Manor. It was one of Alfred’s weekends off; the rooms seemed to echo even louder as they walked in, the shadows just a little more grim.</p><p>Dick settled on the couch in front of the TV, right in the middle where he had the best view of the screen. There was a tight look around his eyes; wordlessly, Bruce walked over to the adjacent kitchen, where they kept a medkit, and got out some painkillers.</p><p>He brought them over to Dick with a glass of water, and Dick, to his credit, only paused for a moment before he downed both of them.</p><p>“You don’t have to stay here with me,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll just watch TV or something till I fall asleep.”</p><p>Bruce shifted where he stood, then rounded the couch and dropped down beside Dick, on his scraped-up-but-not-broken side. Dick gave him a surprised glance, but sank into the cushions.</p><p>“What do you wanna watch?” Dick asked, even as he flicked through and found a game show.</p><p>Bruce grunted. “You know most of the answers to this,” he said. “And the ad breaks are at the worst possible times.”</p><p>Dick shrugged with one shoulder. Already, Bruce could see his eyes glazing over slightly. “Knowledge consolidation,” he said.</p><p>Bruce mindlessly sat there, staring at the screen. Mostly, though, he was watching Dick’s head drooping beside him. He was too tired to move somewhere with a headrest, but the lack of one was making it difficult for him to fall asleep. Even with the painkillers – a light dose to account for the head injury – Bruce could see how he bit his lip every time he so much as jostled his arm.</p><p>Bruce silently brought up an arm to tug on Dick’s head, bringing it down to use his shoulder as a pillow. It was a move he remembered his mother using, when he’d been tired and falling asleep sitting up, usually in the car after a long event.</p><p>He’d never had a problem with it, but then again, he’d been eight when she’d last done that.</p><p>Dick startled out of sleep at his touch, and the jerking movement made him hiss and squeeze his eyes shut. Bruce waited as he rode out the wave of pain, before he nudged Dick again.</p><p>“C’mon,” he said as softly as he could without whispering. “Sleep.”</p><p>And to his surprise, instead of using his shoulder, Dick scooted over a little and shifted so he was using Bruce’s thigh as a pillow, resting with his ear pressed against Bruce so the scratches on his cheek wouldn’t rub against the fabric of Bruce’s slacks.</p><p>“I do feel like you’re being ridiculous about this, though,” Dick said.</p><p>Bruce had thought he’d dropped off. He didn’t sigh, knowing that it might just kickstart another bout of passive aggressive avoiding or shouting.</p><p>“Being in another city, another state, is one thing,” Bruce said finally. “It’s different when it’s another country. It feels… farther away.”</p><p>Dick sighed, picking at a stray thread at the seam of Bruce’s pants. “It really isn’t, though,” he said. “It won’t be any different to what we usually do, just—”</p><p>“Just setting up a permanent base, I know.” Bruce had heard the pitch countless times over the week. The details had been embedded into his brain by this point. “You’ll be gone for a long time.”</p><p>“We’re all on break now. It won’t affect school or anything. And you said you took a gap semester or something.”</p><p>Was adulthood just a sequence of constant regret about telling certain stories, Bruce wondered. He didn’t respond to that particular argument, remembering his own actions after he’d turned eighteen. Not for the first time, he felt for Alfred, who’d been left without so much as a method of contacting him, or any indication of when he might be back, if ever.</p><p>“The others got the okay <em>immediately</em>,” Dick added, as though <em>that</em> had any more sway over Bruce’s decision making now than it had had when he’d been a kid and his whole class had apparently been eating chocolate cake before bed every night.</p><p>Bruce grunted. “That’s more of a comment on their respective guardians than it is on me,” he said.</p><p>For some reason, it was <em>this</em> statement that got a laugh out of Dick, and his voice was suddenly much lighter than it’d been since he’d brought this up. “I knew you’d come around!”</p><p>“Who said anything about coming around?” Bruce said.</p><p>“I’m gonna sleep now, so quit talking so much.”</p><p>Bruce made a huffing noise in response. He reached over to the side table to grab his phone, knowing that he needed to have Clark updated on this new initiative Dick’s team was making. His free hand came to rest on Dick’s mop of hair, absentmindedly stroking through the strands.</p><p>Besides, it wasn’t entirely preposterous for Bruce Wayne to gallivant around the globe. Some may even say that it’d been much too <em>long</em> since he’d partaken in impulsive behaviour like that.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading!</p><p>This has also been <a href="https://fanfictiongreenirises.tumblr.com/post/631757580096733184/day-12-broken-bones">cross-posted to tumblr</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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